Single Player reviews only, because I never get the chance to join netgames (because of timezone differences).

Beach Factory Zone 1 - 5/10

Well, the theme is original, but the gameplay was a bit generic. And I walked in a circle one time.

Water Leaf Zone - 9/10

I really liked this level. Good graphics, original bumpers, multiple paths. But the thing that I found best was the day/night shift. The music was awesome too. (Frog Forest FTW!)

Dusty Desert Zone - 6/10

This level looked pretty good, the sky was a nice touch. The music was pretty good too, but the enemy placement sucked sometimes (notably the part with the long blue spring jumps, where Buzzes await). And I don't really like levels with quicksand.

Frost Mountain Zone 2 - 5/10

One thing: the visuals were awesome. Alot of different textures, but they blended together well. But I REALLY hated the earlier mentioned yellow spring which bumps you into a death pit. And the level didn't really stand out with something original.

Vibrant Vendetta Zone - 10/10

Wow. Great visuals, alot of original gimmicks, good gameplay, not too easy but not too hard... This level is just perfect.

Floating Gardens Zone - 5/10

EXTREMELY average. Nothing original and a generic theme. It actually had a good length though.

Aqua Caves - 4/10

One thing: Lame difficulty. Where Death Egg Zone 2 was challenging, but not unfair (yes, I played it), this level WAS unfair. I wanted to get an air bubble, when I got bombarded by Skims and assaulted by those piranhas. I even got a Game Over. And underwater levels aren't really my cup of tea.

Poloy Forest Zone - 4/10

The thok barrier was really nice, but the level didn't look all that good in my opinion. The gameplay was generic too.

Darkvile Castle Zone - 6/10

The aesthetics were nice, the gameplay was not too bad, but I thought this level was a bit average. But I liked the water skip trick.

Mill Citadel Zone - 9/10

I enjoyed this level alot. Extremely brilliant and original theme, and I loved how the gimmicks fit in with the theme. I only got one emerald token, but that one was hidden brilliantly! Only gripe is that I walked in a circle one time (at the beginning).

Eggmansion Zone - 2/10

Graphic glitches. That really detracted your score, along with the extremely generic gameplay, which I got lost in. The Detons were really lame too, and you overused crushers. And the theme wasn't really 'mansion-like'.

I'll post more in depth reviews later if I have time. For now I'm just going to post first impressions and comments.

Beach Factory Zone 1

4/10 - The map is playable at least, but the layout felt extremely awkward. I expected the beach to play a much larger role in this zone, but instead I got turned around by a button.

Water Leaf Zone

5/10 - The map was actually quite enjoyable save for a few flaws. What stood out the most was the music choices and the day/night switch, which were both quite top notch. The gameplay was rather standard most of the way through however, and the map seemed of average quality.

Dusty Desert Zone

4/10 - The music was decent and the sky fit the level quite nicely, but the texture direction was very inconsistent. I liked the concept of using red for walls and yellow for floors but you apparently abandoned that organization after the first room. The bright colors also made it impossible to point out the quicksand or tell whether you'll sink or be swept away. Furthermore there were several rather unfair jumps which were not altogether obvious.

Frost Mountain Zone 2

5/10 - This map represents what I've come to expect from you, both good and bad. The layout is quite good and I must stress that after seeing dozens of XMAS levels, the visuals for this level were a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately things felt rather small.

Vibrant Vendetta Zone

9/10 - Wow Sonicmaster.... I went into this map expecting to be vastly disappointed. You had quite a few interesting gimmicks and the visuals were very well done. Most importantly however, it played very well. The feel of the level is one I haven't experienced since Gelespious Mountain, Dandjr Palace, or Metal Flower... Very hellish. And I mean that quite literally, the level brought to mind Dante's Inferno.

Floating Gardens Zone

5/10 - The theme is vastly overdone, and you didn't add anything new to the formula in terms of visuals or gameplay. Most of the path was a wide flat expanse, and I found myself thokking through the level as if it were a circuit map.

Aqua Caves Zone

7/10 - Not one of your better maps, but still quite well done. Aside from my everlasting grudge against those rock textures, the real issue here was that the pits felt a bit unfair in places. Most notably were the trap floors, which were bearable above water but under water you are slower to reach solid ground and the fishies are more likely to hit you. I loved the new enemies, but they seemed a bit too fast. And yes, that textures is definately an ACZ ripoff... but its a good ripoff... it meshed with the level quite well.

Poloy Forest Zone

3/10 - This is definately more playable than some of your previous entries, but some things just felt strange. First of all, the visuals were unimpressive, and while the lava was an interesting convention, it didn't really make things more interesting. The harmful water seemed illogical, but that was only a minor issue. The level lacked direction and I found myself taking the same cramped passageway multiple times, and I still don't know how I found my way through. Please stop trying to emulate Game Gear levels...

Darkvile Castle Zone

5/10 - This map was playable, and not too cramped, but the visual details were uninteresting and forgettable. What wasn't forgettable was the excessive buttons which felt tedious and weren't really enough to offer any decent challenge.

Mill Citadel Zone

8/10 - My only gripe here is the music choice, which really did not fit the theme by a longshot. The theme however was very creative and the flour made for an interesting dynamic. Overall I ended the level wishing there was more... alternate paths were few and the level itself seemed quite short.

Eggmansion Zone

8/10 - Probably my favorite use of the CEZ theme yet, the visuals were interesting without getting in the way, the difficulty seemed fair for the level type, and the music really heightened the experience.

Definitely one of the better contests I've played. Good show guys, but please give use some MP maps next time. This is your last chance to design a 1.09.4 match map for the contest.

__________________
"A man who's a dreamer and never takes leave, who thinks of a world that is just make believe
Will never know passion, will never know pain, who sits by the window will one day see rain..."

Darkvile Castle Zone is the result of me learning how to use buttons, as well as various other things. I didn't expect the water skip gimmick to be that popular though, I just put it in without much of an afterthought.

Beach Factory Zone Act 1 5/10
Decent, but not very memorable. A bit too much factory and not enough beach for me.

Water Leaf Zone 7/10
Above average, nice day-to-night transition. Only real problem was some of the platforming and dead-ends here and there.

Frost Mountain Zone Act 2 4/10
I prefer your first act to this. There are springs that don't send you to your destination, uninteresting design, and nothing too memorable.

Vibrant Vendetta Zone 7/10
Difficulty is somewhat aggravating at times. But I did enjoy the visuals and the gimmicks.

Floating Gardens Zone 6/10
Visuals are nice and pleasing to the eye, but otherwise the level is purely average and doesn't contain too many memorable elements.

Aqua Caves Zone Act 1 5/10
Visuals are great as is the custom enemy, but I disliked the somewhat cramped designs and the heavy use of Red Buzzes and Crawla Commanders.

Poly Forest Zone 4/10
I went around the loop at the beginning three times before I noticed that you had to turn around to find the next part of the path. That, coupled with confusing thok barriers and strange, damaging water, makes this map frustrating.

Darkvile Castle Zone lol/wut
As mentioned, this was the level that I created after learning how to make buttons. It's also my first slightly "normal" level, since my other ones feature abnormal themes (Teleportation between elements; ice/fire level; some rocky crater thing in space).

Eggmansion Zone 4/10Visual Glitches Ho!
Now then, there's nothing too memorable about this zone except that other than the glitches, the visuals were somewhat neat. Though the music seems out of place, and it looked more like a castle then a mansion.

Name: Dusty Desert Zone
Author: Chrome
Rating: 5/10
Explanation: This level is definitely pretty to look at, and the music is nice. However, it's a bit too hard to avoid falling into the quicksand, which is very annoying. I've certainly seen worse levels though; it's not THAT bad.

Name: Beach Factory Zone Act 1
Author: Chisuun
Rating: 6/10
Explanation: This level blends an interesting combination of environments, and it's not all that bad. It does have a couple of small problems, though. For instance, I thought the ceiling at the beginning was too low, and the Spike Things were spaced too far apart. But it's mostly stuff that has a pretty minor impact on gameplay. I had some fun with this level.

Name: Darkvile Castle Zone
Author: Simsmagic
Rating: 9/10
Explanation: Wow. Just wow. I'll cover the cons first, because there's so few of them. The level's a bit plain at times, and I was a little confused about why you used the bustable brick texture for the castle walls. The positives? Where to BEGIN! Thrilling environments, WONDERFUL use of button effects (The part with the speed pad and the rising water was pure genius!) But the thing about the level that I liked best was that there was a BOSS at the end. Do you know how long I've been waiting to see someone make a boss level like that? Not a cheapy kind of boss where the whole point of the level is to fight it, but an elaborate, fun, full-length level with a boss at the END! All I can say is that I hope this level sets the standard for Eggman levels from now on.

Name: GS Poloy Forest
Author: Glaber
Rating: 5/10
Explanation: I'm certainly glad you've stopped making special stages, Glaber, and this is definitely a step in the right direction, but it's far from a masterpiece. I had fun exploring the level, but its layout and its theme didn't really make any sense to me. Plus, some parts were a little cramped. You're definitely improving, though!

Name: Vibrant Vendetta Zone
Author: SonicMaster
Rating: 8/10
Explanation: LOL!!!! Music from The Incredible Machine! I love that game! Anyway, the level played pretty well, but it was just a tad on the plain side. Nevertheless, as usual, you have managed to create awesomeness, SonicMaster.

Name: Eggmansion Zone Act 1
Author: Knockout the Echidna
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: Ugh. Very laggy, very glitchy, and there's nothing all that interesting about it. It just seemed to lack the thrill that some of the other levels in this contest have. The music is good, though.

Name: Floating Gardens Zone
Author: Kyasarin
Rating: 7/10
Explanation: Generally I'm not a fan of the "floating gardens" environment, but you pulled it off quite nicely. Aside from a little emptiness, the level was pretty enjoyable.

Name: Frost Mountain Zone Act 2
Author: HyperKnux
Rating: 7/10
Explanation: I'd say FMZ2 is about as good as FMZ1. In other words, it's not outstanding, but it's still very good. It managed to continue the sorts of things that were going on in the original, and consistency is often a plus in this kind of situation.

Name: Mill Citadel Zone
Author: Ezer.Arch
Rating: 8/10
Explanation: Yet another fantastic level. Great scenery, creative obstacles, unique theme. I could tell from the very moment the level loaded that it was going to be awesome, and a bit of playing confirmed that.

__________________
Just another indie game developer...check out my website, Chapman Games!

8/10 - My only gripe here is the music choice, which really did not fit the theme by a longshot. The theme however was very creative and the flour made for an interesting dynamic. Overall I ended the level wishing there was more... alternate paths were few and the level itself seemed quite short.

First off, thanks for reviewing :).

Unfortunately I wasn't able to spend a good time working on my level. :( According to file properties, I started to build my level at April 19, from some stretches I had drawn some weeks ago:

... then 11 days of work more some weeks planning, I think this level is a miracle :). I had more ideas - secret rooms, alternative paths... - but I was forced to cut off a part of intended map because the deadline was killing me :( *pun*.

To make thing worse, I couldn't host my level at any MS to make desired tests...

I'm now thinking of releasing a 2nd version of Mill Citadel Zone considering voter's reviews as I did with Lift Bridge Zone (I fixed those springs that you complained :) ). But I doubt I'll put more new stuffs in; I could keep them for a new level.

About music: maybe I've done a bad choice; probably I was under influence of Rainstorm Keep Zone, by Mystic. I'll try some other musics to see which will fit better.

Besides the hidden rooms with tokens, there are more rooms with extra lives and monitors. And in a room, there are three wood boxes with flour and under it, some little surprises.

My map was never tested with other players. I never knew that teleports would C-Fail the game.
For the author rating his own level, I would give it a 6/10(ignore this rating)...If it worked properly. I gave it this rating for this reason: the level's sharp turns would be annoying. There was an over use of water-type hazards in the second part. In the last part there would be a possibility to miss the teleports that loops the track. The Detail was okay, but there was a lot of invisible FOFs to keep people from RPing in the city of the second part.
__________________________________________________ _____________
Here are my level ratings:Mill Citadel ZoneRating 8/10
This level was large and empty in the first part, and in many other parts. There was a good thing placement, even though rings were lacking near the end of the map. There was some cheap deaths when it came to crushers and that pit after the first flour river. The gimmick of a mill map was very unique and I loved it.

Dusty Desert ZoneRating 6/10
The level was open in many places, yet cramped in others. Things were abundant and turrets were very frequent enemy encounters. At the first circular quick sand falls area there was a very deep pit that I found unnecessary. Sector detail was good.

Beach Factory ZoneRating 6/10
The level lags in some areas, like the the first "slope". I noticed that the SRB2CB exclusive 2d camera effect was apparent in some areas. The beach area was devoid of enemy type things and felt kind of lonely.

Vibrant Vendetta ZoneRating 9/10
Opengl (in CB) mode showed the color map just fine :D. The level was roomy, and it did not feel empty. The things was well placed and the detail was great. The only vendetta type thing I saw was the massive graveyard near the beginning. Other than that it looked kind of like a cavernous mountain. The "hold spindash" part was a little confusing as the location of where the platforms came up was kind of random. The texture with the hole in the wood showed the sky through the bottom of the sector. The bouncy symbol method was interesting.

Aqua Caves ZoneRating 5/10
There were some odd deaths in this level with pits with no prior warning and synchronized under water spiked crushers. The custom piranha enemy was kind of stupid;they did not attack me they mostly scrambled randomly in the water. The level was the right size and things were spread out properly. The place after the rising water room lacked direction, I actually ended up going backwards. Within the rising water area the water rose too fast.

Water LeafRating N/A
This rating is because this level had been finished and released on the WadBase.

Darkvile CastleRating 7/10
The level was a good size. The rings were sparse and enemies frequent. There was okay platforming, but nothing out of the ordinary. The button hunt was confusing as the buttons made no real change until you got near the end of the level. Some of the places were very empty like the part you get teleported to.

Poloy ForestRating 4/10
Tails poison is Knuckles poison too? The painful normal looking water made no point. The thok barrier while intriguing, did not change this relatively poor map. This level lacked direction. I became lost in this map. Some of the alternate paths were kind of cramped. For the size and style of the level, I would not recommend Jetty-Syns.

EggmansionRating 6/10
The level was a good size. The ring:enemy ratio was good, yet the enemy type was bad. There was detons in hazardous or just plain random areas, Crawla Commanders were frequent but not annoying. The crushers were in random places.

Floating Islands ZoneRating 8/10
This level was open and detailed. Enemy and ring type things seem to sparse in this area. Cheap deaths were almost non-existent because you did not put enemies near ledges. Near the end of the level you seemed to cram enemies. The dummy arrows were non intrusive yet obvious.

Frost Mountain Act 2Rating 5/10
This level was not the worse, but not the best. It was cramped in some areas, but thing placement was appropriate. I did notice a random hole in a wall in this level. Rings were not deafed, but that did not detract from your score. A spring in one part of the level flung you over the other spring and landed you over a death pit.

with no CTF levels entered (except for one, which I wasn't able to download due to GMail wanting to fight with me. Darkbob1713, if you want to try sending it again, I'll try to make sure it gets in the next contest. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get it in this one, but GMail refuses to let me download it.)

Wow. I feal bad for my friend Dbob. He's not gonna be happy to hear this.

I offically hate Gmail. Because of my impatience (:P) im just gonna forget about the contest. Expect to see a Fort Bowser topic in about five minutes.

__________________

Quote:

<SirCoat> ...report me for what?
<Jester the lucky 7> for hurassing a server shouting out hangout and for being in a hangout
<SirCoat> what does that have to do with you hangouting
<SirCoat> ...
<Streakster The Fox> um this is a hangout

Please tell me that's not what I put in the e-mail I sent you. It's Scorching Factory Zone. Rrrr. Did I put that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Torgo

MAPA5 - Scorching Factory Zone by Jellybones69 - 0/10
Agh, another terrible map. The first thing that annoyed me at the zone is the lack of direction. When you are going to the fire section, I thought that you had to go on the sides at first. I don't think you should include that narrow side thing, it just confuses people. I am guessing you meant to make it a thok barrier? The flow and everything about this level made me cringe.

Which fire section? There's like, two fire sections. I was meaning to make a thok barrier, but I had no idea how to fix that narrow thing. I'm not sure in which part of the level you get lost though. I just want to know because I'm like fixing my levels. And 0? I'm sure there's been worse maps then this, but whatever. You are the only person that's scored it as of typing this.

Poloy Forest Zone, 5/10
I really can't say much here. Gameplay was sort of boring and the whole "the sides of the forest are on fire" thing looked horrible. Some platforming was annoying, but all in all the level was playable. I'm glad it's not just some generic level at least....

Dusty Desert Zone, 8/10
This was somewhat cramped at times, and hard to maneuver through, but once you got past those parts then the level was great. Not much in the scenery department, but the level itself was very fast paced and generally fun. Also, the platforming part with the blue spring was really annoying, I had to try it over at least 3 times before I could pass it.

Mill Citadel Zone, 7/10
As stated before, the music choice was extremely ill-fitting, especially with the atmosphere that the level gave off. Tunes 92 worked out best for me. The level flowed well, and the gimmicks were pretty fun. I didn't like the texture you used for the bustable walls though, and I felt that the level could've been more open at times. Also, after playing the level twice, there's really not much more to see.
I liked the way you hid the tokens though!

Frost Mountain Zone Act 2, 7/10
As I always say with your levels: it's a bit cramped. The sector layout and the design itself is nice, but just feels undersized to me. Also, I've told you this before, to make your rings float, just check the "float" box when in the item options for them. I don't know if you know this already or not, (though I don't know why you would choose to ignore it). It's a lot easier than editing the ring's z-position.

Floating Gardens Zone, 6/10
While I liked the length, and how the level is so open, it generally feels....empty. A lot of the time there will just be wide open spaces with absolutely nothing in them. Also, there is still no logical transition between the castle themes and temple themes. The parts with castle textures are just there to be there (much like a lot of other obstacles). I like it when stuff feels like it's supposed to be there.

Darkvile Castle Zone, 5/10
The level is pretty much playable, but aesthetics are lacking. There's really nothing new here, and not much to say.

Beach Factory Zone, 4/10
The level felt dead. It's really linear, there seems to be only one pathway, the beach was short lived, and there wasn't really any indication (except for the textures) that this place was a factory. It didn't really feel like anything at all.

Aqua Caves Zone Act 1, 8/10
Great music and texture choice. The level flowed really well, and was very fun to play. I liked the fish, but were they enemies or scenery objects? I don't know, I never got hit by one, so they seem like pretty harmless enemies if they are enemies.
Also, the rising spikes in the underwater part gave me a game over twice. X_X
I don't know if that was the fault of the level or my own stupidity.

Water Leaf Zone, 7/10
I don't know what to say really. I liked the level, but that's about it.

Eggmansion Zone Act 1, 7/10
I liked how the level was difficult, and how it flowed rather nicely, but I really didn't like how you pretty much overloaded on every annoying enemy in the game. Detons popped outta nowhere, with almost no time for dodging them, and Jettysyns and Crawla Commanders would come out at the worst times possible and land me in a bad situation. Also, I don't think the music choice fit too well, but the level was still fun regardless.

Vibrant Vendetta Zone, 6/10
I'm not really sure if I know how to phrase this, but here it goes: I didn't like the atmosphere, the gimmicks seemed present just for the sake of being present, and, well, I just pictured Vibrant Vendetta Zone looking so much more different. Sorry if I'm coming off as biased when giving the review, but I simply didn't like the level much. There's really nothing wrong with it, I just didn't feel like I was playing a level that should wear the name of "Vibrant Vendetta".
My favorite part of the level though, was the organic-looking-ground-that-was-rippling part of the level. I sat there playing around with it, and drooling over it for a little over some ~30 seconds before I got to playing the level again.

Keep up the good work guys! I really enjoyed playing this contest, and I look forward to the next.

Heaven Meadows Zone - 6/10
Not bad, it could use a bit of work, not to mention I found some redwall under a tree at one point. But redwall aside, it was nice to look at, but the gameplay was a bit too awkward.

Great Gorge of Water Zone - 5/10
This was quite interesting, a level where water is more of a gimmick rather than a handicap. The only thing holding this level back was the lack of different textures, not to mention, a bit more sector scenery woul've been nice.

Scale the Earth Zone - 3/10
Wow, this level was really hard to navigate through. It was more like: Scale random areas, as opposed to scale the 'earth'. The falling lava was good, but it would 've helped if there was some sort of indication as to where the lava falls.

Scorching Factory Zone - 6/10
Not a bad level at all, it was kind of bland throughout the level but the gimmicks you added kept it alive. The Bowser Fireballs part was definately something new. The other thing was, it's too short, try extending the level a bit.

Endless Woods Zone - 7/10
Woot, this level was pretty good. it was a bit straightforward, but it had a nice feel to it. The scenery was placed in ideal locations and the lighting was a sight to behold. I certainly noticed the similarity between this level and that of Verdant Forest.